Here at the ‘Gig, we love Art and we love Toys, and a good place to find Art Toys is The Pink Ghost Store, where you can find awesome collectible designer toys by breaking artists like Buff Monster and Gary Baseman. Pink Ghost also sells accessories, gadgets, books and art prints like Tara McPherson’s rockin’ concert posters! Cruise on over to Pink Ghost Dot Net right now and take a look! Pink Ghost!

Hey, remember this little guy from an earlier Worleygig.com post? Well, artist Gary Baseman just created a one-of-a-kind painting to celebrate the release of that very pink HotChaChaCha vinyl toy! Pink HotChaChaCha painting – acrylic on wood panel and measuring 15 1/2″ x 20″ – is now available for purchase for the first time ever. A price hasn’t been posted but serious inquiries can be sent to Susan Ledgerwood at basemanstudio@gmail.com. Considering the toy retailed for about $100 each, the painting is likely not cheap.

I am by no stretch of the imagination any kind of a Star Wars fan, but if this exhibit came to NYC I would be there to check it out in two seconds. The Vader Project is a jaw dropping collection of 100 Darth Vader Helmets reimagined by some of today’s hottest underground and pop surrealist painters, artists and designers. Here’s bit more information from the Vader Project Website. “The Vader Project is curated by Dov Kelemer & Sarah Jo Marks of DKE Toys. Kelemer and Marks gathered 100 contemporary artists. Each artist was given a 1:1 scale authentic prop replica of the actual Darth Vader helmet used in the STAR WARS™ films. Each helmet served as a blank slate for each artist to paint, design, mash up and customize.

While the project has been around since May 2007, the collection makes its museum premiere at The Andy Warhol and will be on display from February 13 to May 3, 2009. Check out a really cool Slideshow here.

While passing time over at Plastic and Plush, I came across this delightful pink vinyl toy called Hot Cha Cha Cha, by artist Gary Baseman. This special Pink edition figure is strictly limited to 500 units worldwide and comes in an individually-numbered package that’s a work of art in itself. Retails for $99.95. Sounds a bit pricey to me. Your mileage may vary.